American Dream Banquet July 10

"Together, we will create a better Tennessee"

Stephen Fotopulos will become Executive Director of the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) effective June 30, according to this announcement by Sharmila Murthy, President of the Board of Directors of the coalition:

On behalf of the TIRRC Board of Directors, I am pleased to inform you that Stephen Fotopulos will be the new Executive Director of TIRRC effective June 30, 2008. After an extensive national search, the Board realized that the best candidate for the Executive Director position was actually within our own midst! Stephen joined TIRRC in 2004, most recently serving as TIRRC's Policy Director. As Policy Director, Stephen became a nationally recognized expert on immigration policy. He also partnered with grassroots organizers and communities to translate complex policy positions into effective campaign strategies. We are excited that Stephen is ready to take on the challenge of serving as TIRRC's second Executive Director!

Stephen came to TIRRC in 2004 with an impressive background in public policy analysis, including a Master's degree in Public Administration from Cornell University, as well as significant experience in management within the public sector. While at TIRRC, Stephen quickly became a leader within the organization, substantially bolstering both programmatic and organizational work. During his tenure, Stephen worked with TIRRC's immigrant leaders to help them develop the tools and confidence needed to engage decision makers on the local, state and federal level. He also successfully integrated important allies from numerous sectors in all of TIRRC's policy efforts. Stephen is committed to TIRRC's mission, principles and goals. He believes that immigrants and refugees should lead the campaigns that TIRRC undertakes, and will make expanding immigrant leadership within the membership, staff and board a primary priority during his tenure as Executive Director.

As many of you know, the founding Executive Director of TIRRC, David Lubell, will be starting a Masters in Public Administration program at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in August. He will be officially stepping down as Executive Director on June 30, 2008, and will be leaving Nashville in the middle of July. Over the past six months, the TIRRC Board of Directors has been working closely with David and the TIRRC staff to ensure preparedness for David's departure. Now that a new Director has been chosen, the Board has established a Transition Committee to ensure a smooth transition of leadership. The Transition Committee is chaired by Avi Poster, who has over thirty years of leadership experience, both as a former school principal and as a leader in social justice organizations. The Transition Committee also benefits from the guidance of Mary Ochs, an outside consultant who has been working closely with TIRRC for over six years. Mary helped facilitate TIRRC's strategic planning process last year and also served as an outside resource to the Board Executive Search Committee this past year.

I would like to thank TIRRC's Board of Directors, TIRRC's staff, and all of our friends and allies for supporting us throughout the search and transition process. I would also like to give special thanks to JJ Rosenbaum who chaired the Executive Search Committee.

Please join me in congratulating Stephen! I look forward to seeing you at the American Dream Banquet on Thursday, July 10, 2008, where we will have an opportunity to formally congratulate Stephen on his new role as TIRRC's Executive Director and also to celebrate David's great accomplishments as the founding Executive Director!

Best wishes,

Sharmila L. Murthy
President, Board of Directors

From Stephen Fotopulos:

A LETTER FROM THE NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: MR. STEPHEN FOTOPULOS

I am honored and excited to be selected as the new Executive Director of TIRRC. When my wife Susannah and I first moved to Nashville in 2004, we knew it would be a great place to raise a family. What we quickly learned was that Tennessee was home to one of the fastest growing immigrant communities in the country, and Nashville was becoming the international city of the South. I was drawn to TIRRC because of my graduate studies in immigration policy and the several years I spent living and working abroad. At TIRRC, I have had the unique opportunity to work hand-in-hand with our immigrant neighbors in the struggle to build a more just and equitable society. The past four years at TIRRC have been the most fulfilling work of my career.

TIRRC's mission is to empower immigrants and refugees in Tennessee to develop a unified voice and lead a statewide movement for positive change. Our success as a coalition depends on the increased capacity of emerging, immigrant-led organizations, the continued development of immigrant leadership, and the full participation of these leaders in every facet of our work. I look forward to working with all of you in the coming months, to discuss the ways in which the organization fulfills its mission and to better understand the ways in which we can build upon our strengths.

For the last four years, I have benefited greatly from David Lubell's guidance and friendship, and I am humbled by the responsibility of leading the organization in his stead. The departure of a founding director poses healthy challenges for any organization. I am extremely fortunate to be joined by a dedicated, talented staff and an engaged, visionary board of directors in addressing these challenges. With the continued collaboration of community leaders, allies, and national partners, we will build on the momentum of David's leadership, carry out the organization's strategic plan, and ensure that TIRRC remains one of the most successful coalitions of its kind. Together, we will create a better Tennessee.

Thanks for your support.
Stephen

Statue of Liberty photo by Ian Foss. Licensed under Creative Commons.

Labels: events, immigrants, justice

When your neighbors don't see you as an American anymore, it's hardly a place you can call home

"People in Tennessee are scared of the police, and people in other states think we're racists."

The Tennessean reports here that Robertson County has lost a U.S. citizen couple due to "suspiciously frequent" traffic stops. The couple is Hispanic, and Robertson County is one of the Middle Tennessee counties where local law enforcement is introducing new and possibly overreaching immigration bureaucracies.

HispanicNashville.com has reported previously on how Nashville's reputation for southern hospitality is threatened when immigration enforcement efforts turn into a free-for-all against Hispanics in general (story here), and how cities with cold racial and ethnic climates can suffer an exodus of residents and become less attractive to big employers (like Nissan) who are looking to relocate (story here).

From the Tennessean story (I would disagree that the impact was unexpected):

The Rev. Tommy Vallejos, executive director of Clarksville-based HOPE, a Middle Tennessee Hispanic Advocacy organization, said he is concerned about Robertson County's two-step policy because officers must work from their suspicions without training in immigration matters. He said deputies have not managed to target "dangerous criminals" exclusively.

And the policy has had an impact that may not have been expected, he said. A Latino U.S. citizen couple Vallejos knows recently left Robertson County, tired of suspiciously frequent traffic stops, he said. And a Latino woman born in Texas considering a move to Middle Tennessee recently called Vallejos with questions about the area he wishes he didn't have to answer.

"This can't be good for Tennessee," he said. "People in Tennessee are scared of the police, and people in other states think we're racists."

The official in charge of the new Robertson County policy is Sheriff Gene Bollinger, who was President of the Tennessee Sheriffs' Association in 2006.

What Hispanic advocates like Vallejos demand, and what Hispanic citizens in general need, are for departments like Bollinger's to protect the public from sloppy police practices that result in, among other things, overzealous traffic stops and arbitrary enforcement based on the way a person looks. If it happens at all, it is a problem for Bollinger to weed out, even if the wrongdoing is not prevalent (in a testament to law enforcement in Robertson County, a previous directive from the Coopertown mayor to target Hispanics for traffic tickets seems to have been ignored - see paragraph about Coopertown here).

Also, most Hispanic and immigrant advocates believe that dangerous criminals should be the focus of immigration enforcement efforts, and not ordinary immigrants without visas, the vast majority of whom are in violation of a law only due to their having a job and not by causing public safety problems. The status quo blanket enforcement attempts, which even when catching criminals lean 80% toward misdemeanors, drain law enforcement resources away from what could be better targeted efforts against violent criminals who truly threaten the public.

Revisiting and revising local immigration practices would not only benefit the residents of Robertson County but would also ensure that Nashville's reputation for hospitality carries into the surrounding counties. What nobody needs is an intended or unintended hostility toward any ethnic group, caused by an indiscriminate attitude toward immigration.

Labels: 287g, justice, negativity

"How would this facility have been if no one found out about it?"

HQ's inner musings still a mystery

"Mommy, where is God that he doesn’t want to help us? Mommy, tell God to come and take us out of here and take us to our house"

With its cover story this week, the Nashville Scene becomes the first member of the local media to take Nashville-based Corrections Corporation of America to task for its failings related to the imprisonment of immigrants.

HispanicNashville.com, in this story about the Hutto immigrant family detention center in Texas, and in this story about deaths of immigrants in CCA custody, followed extensive news coverage of CCA from various media outlets outside Nashville. The established Nashville media, however, have been noticeably absent from the coverage of their hometown corporation, until now.

The Scene story chronicles the pattern of CCA's "controversies" related to treatment of people in its facilities, including one incident that hadn't been reported before. Unfortunately, the Scene did not leverage its proximity to the company to give readers any insight as to how CCA is facing these issues (Have the executive team, the board, or the shareholders considered big-picture questions regarding the detainment of families and children in general? Has anyone at CCA headquarters asked whether, as Amnesty International asserts, child detention itself is improper? Was there a point when CCA's top attorney should have advised against the contracts to detain children at Hutto, as one letter to President Bush asserts?). Neither CCA nor its corporate insiders are quoted in the article; they refused to comment, and the Scene wasn't able to get anyone at the Burton Hills headquarters to talk about the big picture.

From the story:

In the last 18 months alone, CCA has been the target of several stinging lawsuits supported by detailed affidavits and third-party reports alleging dangerous and inhumane practices that have put inmates’ lives at risk. Whistle blowers, once in positions of trust at CCA, have emerged from the shadows to tell vivid tales of corporate misconduct. Federal authorities have castigated the publicly traded corporation for operating an immigration detention facility in Texas on the cheap. And at that CCA complex—which at one point forced children of immigrant detainees to dress in prison garb—dozens of incarcerated women and children have come forward with gut-wrenching tales of anguish and neglect.
...
Elsa and her children wore prison uniforms and spent hours in their pod, often with no toys or books for the kids. One day, Elsa and her family were in the doctor’s office, where all the kids were playing with crayons. Angelina drew a picture, but a guard grabbed the girl’s artwork. She cried a lot at Hutto, wondering what her family had done wrong.

“Mommy, where is God that he doesn’t want to help us? Mommy, tell God to come and take us out of here and take us to our house,” Elsa recalled her daughter saying. “Mommy, why do they have us as prisoners if we have never killed anybody?”
...
By all accounts, Hutto is no longer as oppressive as it was when Elsa and her family first arrived from Honduras. But why didn’t CCA get it right from the start? Or to put it more bluntly, why did a rich company—one with $388 million in revenues last quarter—have to be told by the ACLU to cease treating innocent children like criminals?

“The point I’d like to make is that none of these changes were done voluntarily,” says [Barbara] Hines, the attorney. “When you look at CCA and ICE, the question is, how would this facility have been if no one found out about it?”

Image copyright Nashville Scene. Used with permission.

Labels: business, immigrants, justice

Familiar, fear-favoring English Forced is back

English Forced is the idea that it is a good idea to prevent foreign languages from being used by government officials, supposedly because it forces internationals to learn English. In reality, there are a variety of reasons folks support English Forced, some of them (but not all of them) being foolish or sinister, or both. Among the factions in favor of it: those who think that hearing foreign languages is "forcing" those languages on them (see here), those who have a generally negative attitude toward people who are different in any way (see here), those who make the mistaken assumption that speaking in another language is an indication of legal status (see here), and those who even scare 287(g)-wielding Davidson County Sheriff Daron Hall "to death" (his words).

The movement is now aiming for a Nashville comeback after its 2007 defeat. The Nashville City Paper editorialized here against the whole idea, even offering tips to the opposition. Kay Brooks criticized Nashville Mayor Karl Dean for saying that he is troubled by certain language in the proposed amendment to the Metro Charter (see here) (hat tip: Kleinheider). The Enclave's Mike Byrd takes the City Paper to task for its article about the English Forced campaign that left unchallenged the spokesman's arguments that (1) English Forced helps immigrants learn English, and (2) being married to a Japanese woman insulates him from charges of "being either prejudiced toward Hispanics or from whipping up the uglier fringes of the racist right to go to the polls in November." (Hat tip: Kleinheider again).

I chimed in later, responding to Kay Brooks in the comments section below her post:

The tone of your post implies that we are in a new American era of "handing out rights," but the USA has a long tradition of balancing competing rights and goals. Some rights and goals are simply greater than English-related or immigration-related goals. If Nashville's mayor can tell in advance that an argument that "English trumps everything" is a loser, I'd say it's not such a bad thing that we have a lawyer as a mayor.

Just ask yourself, what "right" is the charter amendment trying to take away? If the focus of the amendment's ire is that Metro communicates in other languages at times, how does that create a "right"? Such a practice may reflect - but not create - long-standing Constitutional rights related to access to justice, for example, in which case Mayor Dean is correct to see in advance that we'd lose a fight to take away such rights. Or, a Metro department might use other languages simply to enhance its ability to fulfill its mission - seeing better results when using certain foreign languages in communications. Again, that choice by Metro does not create any rights on the part of the user; if anything, it is a convenience to the government and a courtesy to the recipient. So the "rights" language is either Constitutionally unopposable in certain circumstances, or it is a straw man, and in either case Mayor Dean is wise to be troubled by the proximity of such sloppy drafting to our city's charter.

If you see this issue through the eyes of Metro departments, at stake is their power to individually determine whether additional languages will better allow them to implement their missions. Micromanaging those departments by putting an English mandate over the entire city will handicap Metro (and thus all of us, if Metro's goals are our goals) and not just our city's international residents. In an English Forced world, this predetermination of priorities would win the day without any weighing of the costs and benefits in each situation. (And if the charter amendment doesn't make this change, what real practical effect is it supposed to have?) As I've said before, Metro currently implements a variety of multi-lingual communication strategies on topics including legal rights, a child's first day of school, domestic violence, recycling, rape victim resources, financial counseling, Homework Hotline, recidivism-reducing DUI education, pet ownership tips, access to health care, and tornado siren instructions - and none of the agencies responsible for those communications have been quoted in any of the articles on the English Forced movement.

By the way, when you comment about citizenship and English proficiency, why the exclusive focus on citizens? There are more people here than just citizens. Foreign spouses can move here years before they are eligible for citizenship.

Finally, you imply that multiple languages in this country is also a new thing that could cost us dearly ("wait until he sees the bill for this new right.") Germantown in Nashville had German-language church services, schools, and newspapers for decades. At the Centennial Exposition for which Nashville's Centennial Park was created, Nashville's German newspapers were rightly lauded as one of the best methods of integrating new German immigrants, because through communications in their mother tongue they could learn about current events even while they were still uncomfortable in English. It wasn't until WWI, cowered by fear of their fellow Americans' anti-German fervor, when the German-Americans scrubbed the German language out of Germantown.

If Dean prefers to maintain our city's welcoming tradition instead of yielding to a movement tinged with fear (or worse), maybe our mayor with the law degree studied a little history, too.

Labels: english, immigrants, justice

Tennessee withholds recognition of parenthood

At a time when American institutions are rightly realizing that immigration law has to be considered in a balance, and in that balance immigration can be and is often less important than other rights and legal responsibilities such as equal protection and the right to marry, the
Tennessean reports here that state rules currently put immigration ahead of identifying the parents of a newborn baby. Unvisaed single fathers are being barred from appearing on their newborn child's birth certificate:

In a flurry of pain, excitement and tears, her 7-pound, 1-ounce daughter, Christina, entered the world by emergency Caesarean section. Hours later, Baptist Hospital staff told Hernandez and her then-fiance that his name would not appear on Christina's birth certificate.

It wasn't the hospital's choice. State policy requires unmarried fathers to present government-issued identification or proof they're in the country legally to be listed on birth certificates. And in 2006, Tennessee stopped issuing driving certificates to illegal immigrants.

The pair of unrelated policies is spawning broader emotional, legal and social implications.

Hernandez, a U.S. citizen who works in hospice care, said she doesn't see the correlation between immigration status and fatherhood.

"Now my daughter has a father who loves her and no legal rights where she is concerned, no legal responsibility and no legal recognition that he gave her life," she said.

Even the pundit who the Tennessean quotes as being in favor of the rule calls it "weird."

For related commentary, see The Misery Strategy, the Doomsday Clock, and the Great Immigration Panic.

Photo: from this scene in Back to the Future. The character on the "Enchantment Under the Sea" dance floor who tries to separate George McFly from his future wife Loraine (thus threatening the existence of Michael J. Fox's character Marty McFly) is identified in the script as "Obnoxious Kid."

Labels: immigrants, justice

Immigrant coalition supports workers movement

Campaign aims for fair compensation and just treatment for day laborers

Launch of "The Nashville Movement"

From The Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition sent out this notice of a "Rally to Launch The Nashville Movement: A Coalition for Economic and Racial Justice:"

Some of the hardest working yet lowest paid residents of our city will be accompanied by hundreds of students, community organizations and congregations in a march for living wage and workers rights

What: Rally followed by a march for living wage and worker’s rights

When: Thursday June 5th, 2008 at 5:00 p.m.

Where: Rally at 15th Ave. Baptist Church, 1203 9th Ave. North followed by a march to Metro Court House

Why: The poorest workers, from taxi drivers to cleaning workers at the Sommett Center, desperately need to have a voice in the decisions that affect their lives.

The Nashville Movement is a growing coalition, of workers, community organizations, students, and congregations, committed to ending poverty, and winning respect, with and for the poorest workers in Nashville. The coalition was formed in 2007 by the Middle Tennessee Jobs with Justice, Nashville Homeless Power Project, the Urban Epicenter, and Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition.

The Nashville Movement is picking up in the successful legacy of the 1960’s civil rights struggle in Nashville. But now we’re not just organizing for a seat at the lunch table, we want to be able to afford what’s on the menu. The Nashville Movement is laying the ground work for a broad based worker rights movement that can win lasting improvements for the poorest workers.

According to the web site of The Nashville Movement, one of the group's campaigns will focus on day laborers:

Day laborers in Nashville are some of the hardest working, most exploited, least paid workers in the city. This campaign is resolved to make sure their hard work is compensated fairly and that they are treated justly by their employers.

Labels: events, immigrants, justice

Erica Contreras, National Chair of the Minority Caucus of the Young Democrats of America (YDA), sent out this invitation to participate in the YDA's Spring National Conference in Nashville this weekend:

Join local elected officials, candidates, young professionals and the Minority Caucus of YDA on Friday, May 30, 2008 in the Crockett Room of the Nashville Hilton downtown for a reception/fundraiser Friday night. All money raised will go toward the Empowerment Fund to help young dems of color attend future YDA meetings.

Then join us on Sat. May 31st at 10:30am for our meeting where we will discuss Keeping Dr. Martin Luther King's Dream Alive and the work he did for sanitation worker's rights. Confirmed speakers are Larry Smith, Director of Civil Rights of the United Auto Workers and David Welker from the Teamsters.

Visit yda.org/nashville or ydaminoritycaucus.org for more info.

Erica Contreras
National Chair
Minority Caucus of YDA

Labels: events, justice

Second censure for discriminatory conduct

"Perceived predetermination as to Hispanic individuals"

Violations of Canons of Judicial Ethics, U.S. Constitution, TN Constitution

Short of removal, censure is "highest degree of judicial discipline authorized by law"

In balance of laws and rights, equal protection trumps immigration

The Tennessee Court of the Judiciary issued a public censure and this letter formally reprimanding Dickson County Juvenile Court Judge A. Andrew Jackson for his habit of issuing rulings against juveniles based solely on the real or perceived immigration status of the children and parents appearing before him. This includes a "perceived predetermination as to Hispanic individuals."

Jerry Gonzalez, who filed the complaint against Judge Jackson and was profiled by the Nashville Scene in 2004 (story here), explained the problem to the American Bar Association Journal as one of Sippenhaft, or kin liability:

"The judge would rule the juvenile was unruly if he found the parents to be disrespectful of the law," the lawyer, Jerry Gonzalez is quoted saying. "Under the statute, being unruly has nothing to do with the parents. They could be drug dealers and it doesn't mean you are."

According to the July 2007 Tennessee Bar Journal, this is the second time in two years that Judge Jackson has received this level of censure for discriminatory conduct:

On May 24, the Court of the Judiciary issued a public censure to Judge A. Andrew Jackson of Dickson County for inappropriate behavior at an August 2006 Juvenile Justice Conference in Memphis. On the evening of Aug. 7, Jackson overindulged in the consumption of alcohol to the extent that he was unable to remember some of the evening’s events. An African-American conference attendee, however, remembers asking Jackson about job opportunities in his area and that Jackson responded with disparaging references about the man’s race and ethnicity. Shortly thereafter, Jackson profanely referred to a conference attendee from Pennsylvania and physically pushed the person. Later that night, Jackson endeavored to coax a female conference attendee to join him on the dance floor. When she resisted, Jackson made a crude sexual remark.

The text of the formal letter of reprimand for the immigration-related conduct is here:

May 16, 2008

PERSONAL & CONFIDENTIAL

A. Andrew Jackson
Dickson County General Sessions Judge
4000 Highway 48
North Suite 1
Charlotte, TN 37036

FORMAL LETTER OF REPRIMAND

In re: Complaint of Jerry Gonzales against Judge A. Andrew Jackson
File No. 07-3154

Dear Judge Jackson:

This shall serve as a public censure pursuant to your agreement with the Investigative Panel of this court and in compliance with Tenn. Code Ann. § 17-5-301 (f) (5). This reprimand relates to your actions as the Dickson County Juvenile Court Judge in hearing cases in which children appeared before you who were illegal aliens, children of illegal aliens, or perceived by you as being illegal aliens. In juvenile cases in which the defendant juvenile had illegal or questionable legal status in the United States, you consistently determined that the child was dependent and neglected when the petition before you did not seek to have the child declared dependent and neglected and that you also when informed that this was inappropriate conduct, determined each child to be unruly, jailing these juveniles as a result of their status, their parents’ status or your perceived view of the status. This course of conduct was demonstrated in hearings held before you March 14, 2007, April 18, 2007 and May 2, 2007 in the case of a juvenile identified for the purpose of this letter as R. I. so as to protect that juvenile’s identify. In those proceedings you repeatedly asked counsel and the child “if he was illegal.” You announced to counsel your predetermination of the case when you stated “Mr. Taylor, you know what I’m going to do on that don’t you, might as well go on and get your appeal set up.” These statements led to laughter in the courtroom and because of your perceived predetermination as to Hispanic individuals appearing before you. You also in this hearing told the representatives of the child to “Get on over there and get Birch to sign it. It always just irritates me to no end,” referring to the requirement of counsel to seek an immediate appeal from your predetermined judgments and incarceration for juveniles in matters dealing in this particular case with a charge of speeding, expired permit and a seat belt violation.

Your actions in this and other juvenile cases violated Supreme Court Rule 10, Canon 1 requiring a judge to uphold the integrity and independent of the judiciary, Canon 2 requiring a judge to respect and comply with the law, Canon 3 B (2) requiring a judge to be faithful to the law and to maintain professional competence in it, Canon 3 B (5) requiring a judge to perform his judicial duties without biased and prejudice and your conduct in dealing with these juveniles deprived those individuals of equal protection of the law as required by the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and the equal protection provisions of the Tennessee Constitution. In addition to the violations of the Canons of Judicial Ethics and state and federal constitutional rights, your conduct detrimentally affects the integrity of the Tennessee judiciary and undermines public confidence in the administration of justice.

This public censure represents the highest degree of judicial discipline authorized by law short of the Court seeking a judgment recommending your removal as a judge from office. In the future, you are to accord all persons who appear before you equal protection of the law and to decide their case on an independent and fair basis.

Sincerely,

Don R. Ash
Presiding Judge
Court of the Judiciary

DRA/cg
cc. Investigative Panel
Disciplinary Counsel

Photo by Michael Galkovsky. Licensed under Creative Commons.

Labels: immigrants, justice

"Fundamental right" restored

Davidson County Clerk forever holds his peace, at least for now

The Tennessean reports here that a state law that requires proof of immigration status to get a marriage license is an overreaching into the "fundamental right" of people to marry each other, at least according to the Tennessee Attorney General and the Davidson County Clerk.

The Tennessean says that the bride-to-be at the heart of the story, Nashville lawyer Vanessa Saenz, sued Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen on April 21, challenging the Tennessee law that was the basis of the Davidson County Clerk's refusal to issue Saenz a certificate to marry "the man of her choice." The Tennessee Attorney General then issued an opinion siding with Saenz - echoing federal courts going back to 1967 that have said that the government cannot use certain reasons to restrict the individual right to marry. The Davidson County Clerk reversed its policy in light of the TN AG decision, and because Saenz was no longer barred from marrying the "man of her choice," the State of Tennessee moved for dismissal of Saenz's litigation against Governor Bredesen.

Theresa Harmon of Tennesseans for Responsible Immigration Policy told the Tennessean that she's "had to do some hard soul-searching on these kinds of issues." (Another comment from Harmon framed the immigration debate as a fight for legitimacy; see this post from Nashville blogger Aunt B.)

Prior to the Saenz case, Nashville congregations with unvisaed churchgoers had organized trips to Kentucky to wed, since the Bluegrass State did not have the immigration-related barriers that were found here in Tennessee. The Tennessean reports that last year, for example, St. Edward Catholic Church "coordinated a trip for 20 mostly Hispanic couples to obtain marriage licenses and legally wed in Kentucky, where clerks don't require immigration-related paperwork. [Rev. Joseph] Breen then married them in the church when they returned." (Question - could driving the couples to Kentucky have constituted a federal crime?)

Update 5/28/08: As a result of the AG position, "[a]ll Tennessee counties were told Tuesday they must follow Davidson County's lead and begin issuing marriage licenses to would-be brides and grooms without regard to their immigration status," according to this story in the Tennessean.

Photo by Tim Forbes. Licensed under Creative Commons.

Labels: faith, immigrants, justice

Jose Jasso-Cuevas "convicted of the same federal crime in 2004"

"Unrealistic immigration laws encourage the black market"

The Nashville City Paper reported here on the arrest on I-40 in Dickson County of a man driving a vanload of 18 unvisaed passengers. The man was paid $550 per passenger for taking them to various parts of the country, including Tennessee.

Catalina Nieto, public awareness coordinator for the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, was quoted by the Tennessean as saying, "Our unrealistic immigration laws encourage the black market for immigrant workers." (story here)

From the City Paper:

The van was driven by a man named Jose Jasso-Cuevas, and this was not his first cross-country trip.

Cuevas is now somewhere in the federal prison system, charged with a violation of federal code for transporting illegal aliens, according to court documents. It is an act federal officials and others involved in combating the practice refer to colloquially as human smuggling.

[ICE Agent Stephen] McCormick’s affidavit and other paperwork in the federal prosecution of Cuevas state there were 18 passengers crammed into the non-descript van, which Cuevas told authorities he had driven to Tennessee on behalf of a “transport company” in Houston. It was not Cuevas’ first trip for that company or in this line of work.

He told authorities he had made three or four trips on behalf of the same company, and that each undocumented persons on board was to pay him $550 once they were delivered to places across the South — Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. Apparently, the system for delivering the illegal immigrants was to call a telephone number when he arrived in various states to get the information about where to drop each passenger.

It would not have been Cuevas’ first time in South Carolina. He was convicted of the same federal crime in 2004 there that he is now charged with in Nashville. Court records show he was released with a sentence of time served.

Photo by Mo Riza. Licensed under Creative Commons.

Labels: immigrants, justice

"Here without authority" once applied to "free Negroes" in Nashville

WKRN reported here that the U.S. Border Patrol is recruiting in Nashville this week and is particularly interested in African-Americans, acknowledging that only 1.5% of 16,000 agents are African-American, and of those, only eight are women.

At the Jefferson Street Missionary Baptist Church, the comment was rightly made that "because it's a federal agency it should represent the population as far as who they hire."

There is no mention, however, of the irony of Nashville African-Americans telling people to stay out, especially in light of

• the Nashville sit-ins, in which African-Americans were arrested for going where they were told it was illegal for them to be, with then-Mayor Ben West saying,

  As God is my helper, the law is going to be enforced in Nashville;

• this comment made in Nashville at the 1871 State Convention of the Colored Citizens of Tennessee:

  But we will gladly hail all voluntary free labor to elevate the laborer, whether from Europe, Asia, Africa or the West Indies, and extend a brother hand to secure him in his liberty the right to his toil and to uphold this government upon equality....;

• and this 1856 Davidson County resolution ordering magistrates and constables in each civil district to

  serve legal notice on all free Negroes within such district to leave the state, who are here without authority.

Photo by cobalt. Licensed under Creative Commons.

Labels: history, justice, statistics

"Large sums of money"

WSMV reports here that Franklin Police busted drug runners funneling cocaine from Mexico to Nashville and wiring "large sums of money" back to Mexico in return. Three arrests were made.

A similar bust was made by Metro and Brentwood police in June 2005 (story here).

Labels: health, justice

The Nashville Scene let Music City know here that Tim Chávez has started his own blog - Political Salsa. The Scene reported last September (see here) that Chávez had been fired as a columnist of the Tennessean after his absence due to leukemia. At the time, Chávez said that "he regrets more than anything not having a farewell column to thank his readers for their good wishes."

Chávez tells the Hispanic Nashville Notebook that his goal for the new site is to "concentrate at least four to five days a week on political happenings nationally and locally for Hispanics."

Political Salsa joins a growing list of local Hispanic blogs including Bilingual in the Boonies, Coyote Chronicles, and Mario Ramos' Visa Blog.

Labels: justice

Thirteen lose their lives behind CCA walls, some cases never previously made public

"Basic standards of decency and fairness... means lifting the veil"

If you have a loved one who was born outside the U.S. and is not yet a citizen here, please read the front-page Monday New York Times article about deaths in immigrant detention. If you live in Nashville, not only are your tax dollars paying to incarcerate non-criminals in some cases, but the name of your corporate neighbor Corrections Corporation of America is part of the story. And it's not the first time CCA's connection to the federal immigration bureaucracy enforcement is the subject of major media scrutiny. Just two months ago, the New Yorker put the spotlight on CCA for its former prison facilities which now house ordinary children and their families. And to my knowledge, this streak of bad press about a Nashville corporate citizen has still not been the subject of any investigative journalism in the Nashville papers, either in a story about CCA itself or in the context of the nomination of CCA in-house counsel Gus Puryear to the federal bench.

Put yourself or your loved one in the shoes of the detained immigrants and families featured in these stories.

Here are excerpts from Monday's front-page article:

Mr. Bah’s relatives never saw the internal records labeled “proprietary information — not for distribution” by the Corrections Corporation of America, which runs the New Jersey detention center for the federal government.
...
Four days after the fall, tipped off by a detainee who called Mr. Bah’s roommate in Brooklyn, relatives rushed to the detention center to ask Corrections Corporation employees where he was.

“They wouldn’t give us any information,” said Lamine Dieng, an American citizen who teaches physics at Bronx Community College and is married to Mr. Bah’s cousin Khadidiatou.
...
The Public Health Service did not respond to questions, and the Corrections Corporation said medical decisions were the responsibility of the Public Health Service.
...
Four sons in another family, in Sacramento, described trying for days to get medical care for their father, Maya Nand, a 56-year-old legal immigrant from Fiji, at a detention center run by the Corrections Corporation in Eloy, Ariz.

From an article focusing on the Nand family:

Mr. Nand, a legal immigrant from Fiji who was diabetic, had been calling his family with mounting desperation over a 10-day period, the sons said. Already ailing when he was abruptly taken into custody at the family’s home in Sacramento early in the morning of Jan. 13, 2005, he had deteriorated after a week at the Arizona detention center, which is run for the federal government by Corrections Corporation of America, a publicly traded prison company.
...
Asked about Mr. Nand’s treatment, Corrections Corporation officials said in a written statement that he had been medically screened when he arrived at the Eloy center, seen and treated “multiple times” by its medical staff, and taken to a hospital. According to a government list of deaths in immigration custody, Mr. Nand was one of five detainees to die at Eloy within a 26-month period; none of the deaths have previously been brought to public attention.

From another article in the series:

Privately run centers had 32 percent of the deaths, even though they housed only 19 percent of detainees over all, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

There are more than 300 detention centers around the country, but one private operator, the Corrections Corporation of America, had 13 deaths in its centers...

From the New York Times editorial on the series:

The government urgently needs to bring the detention system up to basic standards of decency and fairness. That means lifting the veil on detention centers — particularly the private jails and the state prisons and county jails that take detainees under federal contracts — and holding them to the same enforceable standards that apply to prisons.

Labels: business, immigrants, justice, statistics

The Tennessean reported here that among the approximately fifty people at last week's vigil were people identifying them as "'student,' 'musician,' 'woman,' 'Christian,' and 'advocate.'" Also in attendance were representatives from the AFL-CIO and the NAACP, according to the article.

Excerpts from the article:

"I wanted to show my support for these poor people who are essentially being punished for working hard," said Gregg Ramos, a Nashville attorney and self-described "advocate" who attended the vigil in Nashville. "I wish we in America would treat them better."

Representatives from the AFL-CIO, NAACP and other groups were present.

Ramos says there is virtually no way for most foreign-born workers to enter and work in the U.S. legally because only 5,000 visas are given to low-skilled workers each year.
...
Consumers and companies have benefited from the labor of illegal workers. But, illegal workers are generally punished alone when caught, advocates say.

Read the earlier story about the vigil here.

Photo courtesy of Yuri Cunza.

Labels: justice

Bear-trap bureaucracy sparks statewide outpouring of support

One hour of silence and prayer

"Sold to the public as a way to take dangerous criminals off the streets"

No criminal charges

The Tennessean reported here that women from the recent immigration raids in Chattanooga are being held in Nashville awaiting possible deportation. According to this web page produced by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the detained Chattanooga women are held and will be processed for deportation without being charged with a crime.


Source: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Davidson County public defender Ivan Lopez was quoted in this front-page article in the Tennessean on Sunday as saying that a Nashville-ICE partnership program called 287(g) "was sold to the public as a way to take dangerous criminals off the street" but that "[i]n reality, what's happening is you are breaking up families." The 287(g) program and the Chattanooga raids have in common that ordinary people are being put through extraordinary suffering, primarily for regular work that has been made into an outlaw act.

The detentions are another example of how our immigration system isn't broken; it's a fully functioning bear trap for ordinary immigrants (see stories here and here).

A vigil for the detained women and their families will be held on Tuesday outside the Nashville detention center on Harding Place, in coordination with other vigils in Chattanooga and Memphis. Details about the vigils from the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC):

VIGILS TO BE HELD ON TUESDAY, APRIL 29th in CHATTANOOGA, NASHVILLE, and MEMPHIS

Join us as we stand in solidarity with the workers affected by these inhumane acts.
Click here for more information

As many of you know, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) performed major raids across the country on April 16th, including one in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The raid in Tennessee—at a "Pilgrim's Pride" Poultry Processing plant—resulted in the arrest of 156 immigrants.

The raids have devastated Chattanooga's immigrant community, and have sent shock waves across the region.

Men in Georgia—women in Nashville. While it should be noted that 32 women who were identified as mothers were released on Thursday, families have still been torn apart and are struggling to reconnect. Immigrant rights groups across the region are attempting to assimilate a complete list of the workers detained. However, many workers are still missing and their locations remain unknown.

“The raids in the poultry processing plants in the southeast are disheartening and immoral. Even worse is the breaking up of families. We will pray for these women and their families."

Rev. Jeannie Hunter, Associate Pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church.

“All workers and their families deserve being treated with dignity. The workers who are detained are victims of the employers and the broken immigration system. It is the federal immigration system that needs to be held accountable. The workers need their rights protected. ”

Megan Macaraeg with Jobs with Justice

Vigil for Worker Rights and Dignity
"All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity." Martin Luther King, Jr.

Vigils will be held in Memphis, Chattanooga, and Nashville.

Click here for printable flier.

When: Tuesday, April 29--- 6:00-7:00pm

Where: Harding Detention Facility (5115 Harding Place, Nashville TN 37211) where five women from Chattanooga raids are being held.


Join us as we stand on the sidewalk in silence and in prayer for an an hour. Organizers will provide signs with the MLK quote.
All people deserve to be treated with dignity.

Information on the Chattanooga and Memphis vigils will be available shortly.

Vigils, Forums, and Organizing has been made possible thanks to the hard work of the following organizations and individuals:
THANK YOU

Justice for Our Neighbors

The Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF)—Elise Shore

La Paz de Dios—Sylvia Rangel and Stacy Johnson

St. Andrew's Center—Mike Feely

Coalicion de Lideres Latinos—America Gruner

ACLU of Tennessee—Tricia Herzfeld

The Steel Workers Union

Jobs with Justice

The many immigration attorneys throughout the state and beyond who have offered their advice and assistance throughout this emergency.

All the individuals who have given their time and energy towards helping the familes affected by the raids.

Labels: 287g, events, faith, immigrants, justice, statistics

Arrests in Chattanooga, some detained in Nashville

"We will pray for these women and their families"

"Not one good old anglo saxon name amongst them"

In the aftermath of recent, nationwide immigration raids that netted 300 arrests, some of which occurred in Chattanooga, with some of the arrestees being sent to Nashville for holding pending deportation, the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) issued the following press release denouncing the practice. TIRRC Policy Director Stephen Fotopulos (and others) also condemned local immigration enforcement as too broad in this recent editorial.

The text of the press release is here:

Yesterday, while Pope Benedict XVI asked President George W. Bush for the humane treatment of immigrants in the United States, ICE raided Pilgrims Pride Chicken Plants across the nation. At the time when President Bush spoke about freedom in a ‘spirit of mutual respect,’ over one hundred and fifty immigrant workers were rounded up and subjected to detention and interrogation at the Pilgrims Pride chicken plant in Chattanooga. The Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition denounces yesterday’s harsh raids and calls on ICE and President Bush to treat all people with dignity and respect.

"Rounding up hardworking parents and spouses and imprisoning them does not make this country stronger. Rather, it shatters families and sows fear, trauma and isolation, weakening the moral and social fabric of our society," said David Lubell, Director of the Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC). “Let’s stop tearing families apart. Let’s be compassionate and stop this tragedy of separating parents from their children, and wives from their husbands. Instead, let’s have our federal government fix the broken immigration system” said Mr. Lubell.

Although hundreds of workers were rounded up at Pilgrim’s Pride yesterday, it should be noted that no one at the managerial or executive levels of the company were detained or even charged. In response to this disturbing double standard, Megan Macaraeg with Jobs with Justice had this to say: “Investigating unscrupulous hiring practices is one thing, but we don’t need to be punishing the workers for trying to support their families. All workers and their families deserve being treated with dignity,” Macaraeg said. “The workers who are detained are victims of the employers and the broken immigration system. It is the federal immigration system that needs to be held accountable. The workers need their rights protected, and the children need their parents back,” said Macaraeg.

Many in the Nashville community see the recent raids as morally reprehensible, and the wrong approach to addressing the immigration issue. “The raids in the poultry processing plants in the southeast are disheartening and immoral,” said Rev. Jeannie Hunter, Associate Pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church. “Even worse is the breaking up of families, mothers from their children, which is happening as a result. Christians should urge lawmakers to return children to their parents. We will pray for these women and their families,” said Rev. Hunter.

Local blogger Aunt B. recently lamented here the view expressed by Mack that American factories losing workers will lead to American suffering, and that

it’s going to take this suffering and more to get people to change their minds–that it’s going to take folks losing their nurseries or not having anyone to help them clean up after a tornado or businesses leaving or refusing to come here in order to get people to realize that, in their efforts to hurt others, they’re also hurting themselves.

It's similar to sentiment I expressed here in 2006 (with a favorable review by Kleinheider):

A thought for the executive branch in Tennessee and D.C.: enforce the laws to the letter until we Americans feel how harsh our immigration system is. As commentator Sean Brainsted said in a different context here, "The more that rich and powerful people are held accountable to the same laws that poorer people are, the more likely we are to get rid of ridiculous laws."

There are two categories of victims of current U.S. immigration policy. My comments and Mack's comments address what would happen when the people writing the laws feel the pain of full enforcement of those laws. Currently, the suffering of those subjected to the laws but not able to directly influence them is much more prevalent. It's only a matter of time before the misery strategy moves the Doomsday Clock to the time when we wake up and see how awful we have become.

If we are willing to listen, however, we can be inspired to change our laws without such suffering. From USA Today:

"The pope can't change the laws of our country," [Bishop Thomas] Wenski says. "Hopefully he will touch the hearts of many people in our country."

Judging by one of the comments following the editorial authored by Fotopulos, Renata Soto, Elliott Ozment, Gregg Ramos, Rick Casares and Salvador Guzman, however, we need some divine intervention:

Look at those names of contributors to the article. Not one good old anglo saxon name amongst them.

Photo by Ian Broyles. Licensed under Creative Commons.

Labels: faith, immigrants, justice, negativity

The Associated Press interviewed Martha Pantoja, a volunteer tax preparer for the non-profit Nashville Wealth Building Coalition. According to the article, Pantoja said that illegal immigrants are among her Hispanic clients filing tax returns:

[S]ome illegal immigrants choose to file taxes and write a check come April 15, using an alternative to the Social Security number offered by the IRS so it can collect income tax from foreign workers.

"It's a mistake to think that no illegal immigrants pay taxes. They definitely do," said Martha Pantoja, who has been helping Hispanic immigrants this tax season as an IRS-certified volunteer tax preparer for the non-profit Nashville Wealth Building Coalition.

Among those she has assisted is Eric Jimenez, a self-employed handyman who has worked in Nashville for several years. He feels obliged to pay taxes — even though, as Pantoja said, "nothing would happen" to him if he did not.

"I have an idea, a mentality, that to be a good citizen you have to pay taxes," he said. "Also, I'm conscious of the fact that the money we pay in taxes supports the schools and all the public services."

Pantoja said she has helped a number of construction workers who, because they are classified as independent contractors by their employers and have no taxes withheld, owe big tax bills come April. Beyond income tax, they have to pay the full Social Security and Medicare taxes due.

The Social Security Administration estimates that about three-quarters of illegal workers pay taxes that contribute to the overall solvency of Social Security and Medicare.

Photo by paul stumpr. Licensed under Creative Commons.

Labels: business, immigrants, justice

Tim Chavez, Gregg Ramos, Fabian Bedne, Raul Lopez, and Dennis Nunez weigh in

"Both parties have betrayed Hispanics"

"I remain hopeful that this country will be better, more tolerant, and more accepting of those who may be a bit different"

The Hispanic Nashville Notebook asked some local voters who they support for U.S. president, and why. Here are the responses that came in.

Tim Chavez, columnist:

I'm neither a Republican or Democrat. Both parties have betrayed Hispanics.

Locally, Democrats and liberals were denying English language instruction to Hispanic children in kindergarten when I was investigating Nashville public schools in 2000 and 2001 following complaints by ESL teachers. I took that wrong and others to an official with the Clinton administration who was working for the Al Gore campaign. She sought me out as to why I was criticizing her candidate and party in my column for betraying Hispanic children. Yet she did nothing. Now Janet Murguia is the head of NCLR.

Overall, the Democratic Party is first beholden to the African-American political lobby. So it has been interesting to watch the split of this partnership by the Clinton-Obama race. And ironically, it was Hispanics in California, Nevada and Texas who rescued the floundering campaign of the wife of the supposed "first black president."

Only the election of George W. Bush brought action locally when I took the ESL wrongs to his administration during a White House visit. The district was subsequently found by the U.S. Department of Education to be out of compliance with a federal agreement on ESL education.

But now the Republican Party is driving anti-immigrant legislation in Congress and at the state Capitol. Their efforts have stigmatized all Hispanics, citizens or not. Republicans refuse to recognize the contributions of undocumented workers to this economy and their wealth. Half of undocumented workers initially enter the U.S. on temporary work visas. American businesses need Hispanics either because citizens here are too lazy to work or the businesses are paying too little for too much work. So Republican efforts smack more of bigotry than protecting the security of this nation. I can't be one of them either.

So I look at the candidate. I reject political labels of parties or ideologies. Labels just allow the other side to dismiss you.

I fought the TennCare cuts in my column. That would be considered a liberal position. I have opposed abortion, except in the case of rape, incest or the life of the mother immediately endangered. That's considered a conservative position. I oppose capital punishment; liberal. I like George Bush for No Child Left Behind, his humanitarian efforts in Africa and for trying to pass comprehensive immigration reform instead of punitive measures proposed by most Republicans; conservative. I support universal health care; liberal. I believe the mainstream news media has a liberal bias; conservative.

I could go on. But I've written too much.

Gregg Ramos, attorney:

I am supporting Senator Barack Obama of Illinois. This was a very difficult decision for me to make since I think highly of both Senator Obama and Senator Hillary Clinton of New York. I am incredibly impressed with their intellect, knowledge of the issues and communication skills. I also believe they are very similar from an ideological point of view. What tipped me in favor of Senator Obama however, is that for whatever reason Sen. Clinton seems to rub more people the wrong way. That is, her negative ratings are considerably higher than are Senator Obama’s. I believe this is quite unfair but is just the way it is for reason(s) I can’t pretend to understand. Since I believe this election may very well be decided by Independents and disgruntled Republicans who are tired of the status quo, it is my judgment that Sen. Obama will stand a better chance of attracting these crucial voters than will Senator Clinton. Hence, I am backing Sen. Obama.

I will add that although I disagree with Republican Senator John McCain on several issues, especially his stance on the war, I have the utmost respect and admiration for him. He was extremely courageous in my opinion regarding his efforts to reach across the aisle to try and achieve bipartisan, meaningful and comprehensive immigration reform. He also remained steadfast in his support for the war in Iraq at a time when the war was not going well and was hugely unpopular with most of the country. This, to me, demonstrated the strength and sincerity of his convictions, even when “smart” politics may have dictated a different position. How can you not respect and admire a person who stands up for what he believes notwithstanding the political consequences? I also appreciate Senator McCain’s ethics reforms and his unequivocal stance against the use of waterboarding by the CIA. John McCain is a true American hero in my opinion and would be a President I could be very comfortable with should he manage somehow to prevail over either one of the above-referenced Democrats in November.

Regardless of which of the above candidates ultimately prevails in November, I remain hopeful that this country will be better, more tolerant, and more accepting of those who may be a bit different.

Fabian Bedne, architect:

I support Obama, not because I think badly of Clinton, I just think that Obama will be less likely to compromise on core ethical issues as he seems to nurture his politics from core convictions. The Clintons have a tradition of pragmatism that may have worked well in the past, but in a moment where certain things need to absolutely get done I feel better with Obama.

Raul Lopez, business owner:

No matter who the Democrats nominate as their candidate, never have the differences on the issues been more stark than today:

Lower taxes vs tax increases
Success in Iraq vs surrender in Iraq
Strict constructionist judges vs judges who legislate from the bench
Health care for American families vs government-run health care
Fiscal discipline vs continued pork, wasteful government spending and earmarks

The future will look very different if we do not nominate and elect John McCain

Dennis Nunez, attorney:

I am a Democrat and I voted for Barack Obama. Although I like Hillary Clinton, I am concerned that Hillary will be another polarizing figure in the White House. Personally, I think Hillary Clinton has better credentials than both Barack Obama or John McCain. However, I am looking for a candidate that strongly desires to get us out of Iraq and that can swing independents and moderates to the Democrats.

Labels: justice, negativity

287(g) program called a "clumsy tool," hurts integration

Dangerous criminal offenses are not the main cause for deportation under the Davidson County Sheriff's Office's year-old program to enforce immigration law - called "287(g)." Here is an excerpt from last year's interview with Davidson County Sheriff Daron Hall by the Hispanic Nashville Notebook:

HNN: Will there be any evaluation of whether 287(g) catches more dangerous criminals than ordinary immigrants, or vice versa? Would you be able to guess now what those statistics would look like?

Davidson County Sheriff Daron Hall: I won’t predict what any stats will look like, but we do plan to keep extensive, detailed statistics.

Here is the news from an article in the Tennessean today:

[A]ccording to statistics from the Davidson County Sheriff's Office, about 80 percent of those processed for deportation hearings were arrested on misdemeanor charges. Of those, about 40 percent were arrested on traffic offenses such as driving without a license.
...
Catalina Nieto, public awareness coordinator for the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, said that she commends any program that removes dangerous criminals from the streets but that the screening program is a "clumsy tool" to do that.

Although many bemoan the failure of certain immigrants to integrate, one of Nieto's colleagues pointed out in today's Nashville City Paper that 287(g) is one of the many citizen-led programs that has led to increased, not decreased, isolation of immigrants:

“This program has had a very chilling effect on the immigrant community and immigrant community members are much less willing to interact with the broader community,” said Stephen Fotopulos, policy director for the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition.

Photo by Christine. Licensed under Creative Commons.

Labels: 287g, immigrants, justice, statistics

Also: Hispanic identity through the eyes of congressional interns

The Nashville Post reported here in January that U.S. Congressman Jim Cooper (D-Nashville) hired Lisa Quigley as his chief of staff. Quigley's family spent the last three years in Mexico, according to the story:

For the past three years, Quigley has been living in Mexico City with her family, and has worked as Director of the U.S.-Mexico Congressional Initiative at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C. ... Quigley will live in Nashville, splitting time between Cooper's Nashville and Washington offices. ... Larry Harrington, Quigley's husband, a Tennessee native and Vanderbilt Law School grad, is well known in Nashville political circles and is concluding an assignment with the Inter-American Development Bank. Harrington, brother of former Nashville General Sessions Judge Penny Harrington, served in the office of then Vice President Al Gore before being appointed US Executive Director of IADB by President Bill Clinton. At the conclusion of his presidential appointment, he stayed on to work for the bank in Mexico.

Speaking of Washington, this Washington Post article from last July provides a unique insight into U.S. Hispanic identity through the eyes of congressional interns. Here is an excerpt:

Washington makes them mad. And it inspires them.

It also has made them think deeply about who they are, and where they fit into this turbulent feat of political imagination and plain winging-it called America.

Such existential ruminations spark other considerations: Whom do you date? How good (or bad) is your Spanish? How comfortable are you with your skin tone? (Too dark? Too light?) Are you American enough? Is the reputation of la Raza riding on your every move -- or is that perpetual feeling of being watched just an illusion?

Photo by David Porter. Licensed under Creative Commons.

Labels: justice, mexico